Setting off from Nha Trang, we took the National Road 1A, turned right into Ninh Phước commune, and then followed the coastal path to Ninh Vân. When asking the locals for directions, most responded with a confused look: “What are you going there for? It’s hard to get there; the path is rough, and if you get a flat tire, all you can do is push the bike alone.”

On the way, all we saw were some workers building a sidewalk and a bulldozer clearing a piece of slope. We slowly kept on moving ahead though, regardless of the road's rough surface and ominous design; with one side meeting the mountain, and the other side offering only a steep cliff to the ocean's shore.

While gazing in awe at the wild beauty of the forests and majestic rocky slopes along the blue coastal line, we were reminded to pay equal attention to the 4-500 meter high drop as it came into view, revealing a small gulf with crystal-clear blue seawater. An hour later of negotiating the rough road and overcoming the last steep climb, we finally reached the “green valley”. The cattle eating grass on the field and the green corn beds nestling next to peaceful houses, with boats quietly resting in their docks, seemed so tiny from that distance.

At the end of the ascent was a quiet fishing village with: anchored boats, a monument of 235 sailors of the no-number ships who died in 1968, some little cowboys picking coconuts in a deserted garden, a few empty resorts under construction, and most notably, a enormous clear blue gulf with an “untouched” beach.

Leaving the bikes behind, we started to explore the island from the forest's edge to the mountain, and at any time of the day, jumped into the water and played as children would while letting time pass by.